


just a question

by choicolatte



Category: GOT7
Genre: 2jae meeting on a bridge, M/M, and jaebeom is the enamored upperclassman, first week college shenanigans au, youngjae is the blushing dongsaeng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21511042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/choicolatte/pseuds/choicolatte
Summary: You make my heart flutter at every sentence. I see you, and you and you, and only you.
Relationships: Choi Youngjae/Im Jaebum | JB
Comments: 11
Kudos: 77





	just a question

**Author's Note:**

> i really wrote this at 2 in the morning i'm sorry if it doesn't make sense and also i can't believe i just kept writing and writing and writing i have RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE MORNING GOOD god what's wrong with me

“Again? For how long?” 

Jaebeom held his breath, unconsciously rolling his eyes in pure annoyance at the sight before him. Before he got to class at nine a.m on the dot, the rest of campus was _empty_ — it was really foggy in the morning too, so if Jaebeom was not aware he might as well have been walking into his own haunting nightmare at how cold and eerie it felt. An hour and thirty minutes later, Jaebeom thought he could finally walk along the open path across campus and go back to his dorm to use up the two hour gap he had for some well-deserved (or so he argues to himself) nap. 

Alas, apart from the other students coming out of their morning classes and trying to rush towards their next ones, the sea of people he has been seeing for two weeks in a row now have not dispersed at all — it was as if the fog had just covered up what was supposed to be there all along. 

Finally letting out an urgent huff, Jaebeom fishes out the earphones he kept tucked away from the inside pocket of his oversized denim jacket. Plugging the cord into his phone, he opens up his music app and shuffles through his current playlist — he did not mind whatever song was going to come up and fill his ears with music. As long as he had music distracting the voices from the people around him, he felt safe. 

Jaebeom had a routine during the first weeks of the term while he was walking around campus: put his earphones on, turn up the volume of the song, duck his head down, and just walk straight without making any eye contact whatsoever. For three years straight, it has worked with avoiding the eager stares of his peers offering flyers for a pledge opportunity at a frat or a lengthy discussion about the smallest of topics until they just urge you to join whatever organization they are pushing you towards. He has lived through his college career without ever joining a club, and had never once complained about his so-called isolation, as his socially outgoing friend Jackson had nicely put it. Making friends in class and at his part-time work was enough for Jaebeom — and besides, if he did start committing time for a club, then that would make for _less_ time to do his favorite hobby next to listening to music: that is, sleeping. 

Turning the volume way louder than he should, Jaebeom only becomes satisfied until even his own breathing is clouded by the melody of the song that’s playing on his phone. He placed the device back within the realms of the inside pocket, his cold hands finding warmth on the outside slits of his jacket. His cap already covering most of his face and his hair from the chilly wind, Jaebeom is ready to walk through mindless chatter and missed opportunities to grab a free candies, pins or whatever measly and cheap items the clubs were handing out today. Jaebeom had one mission, and one mission only: return to his dorm in one piece, and lie back down in his bed with no worries in his head. 

He started walking with a brisk to his steps on the right side of the bridge, his head hanging low as he watches other people’s feet coming towards him. Jaebeom had mastered the art of wading through college students rushing to the other side of campus to catch their next class or just a group of freshmen making a barricade of themselves walking side by side. Jaebeom was glad he was never the annoying trope when he was their age as he had always kept to himself in public. He knew some self-decency, and he just really didn’t have the energy to talk early in the morning, to be completely honest. 

He felt a couple of people tap him on the shoulder as he just purposely passes them by. His rule was: if I don’t hear you, I won’t stop for you — it might be cheating considering that his earphones were noise-cancelling, and he literally has the volume up to numbers that are probably dangerous to one’s hearing, but that is how Jaebeom makes himself feel less guilty in ignoring students’ way of approaching him. He sometimes did feel bad for some of them, he’s heard of Jackson that most of the time, they let freshmen do all the recruiting during the first few weeks of the term. Even the seniors are aware of how pointless it can get to just stand there and hope to _not_ get rejected more so than find excitement in talking to new people. Nevertheless, Jaebeom wasn’t that much of a saint to stop and entertain each and every one of them that tried to grab his attention. He made sure to walk with a bit more urgency, so it seemed like he _was_ in a rush from an outsider’s perspective.

A rush to go home and crash on his bed, that is. 

With his quick senses, Jaebeom steps sideways to make way for an asshole using his skateboard on a really busy hour on campus. He looked up, just barely missing the collision with the guy’s shoulder as he zoomed through him, and a couple of other people behind. Jaebeom continued on walking, one earbud unconsciously had come off from his ear due to the wind that gusted through. Glancing behind him, Jaebeom muttered some less than nice opinions about inconsiderate jackasses until his figure suddenly bumps with somebody else right in front of him. 

His earphones came off of his ears, now hanging from his inside pocket as the earbuds touch the cold pavement. Jaebeom bent down to its level, grasping the accessory on one hand as he rubs the area of his forehead that brushed rather harshly against another, swiftly coming back up to only just bump one another for the second time in less than thirty seconds. 

“Jesus, do that another time and you’re going to give me a concussion, shit.” Jaebeom didn’t really care how he sounded at the moment as this was something he did not anticipate would happen on his way back to the dorm. He forced the tangled strings of his earphones back in hiding, now even more annoyed by the sudden tension of the situation. 

“I’m so so so _so_ so so sorry. I’m so so sorry — I didn’t mean to bump into you twice! I’m so so _so so_ so so sorry, oh my god -- “ 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Jaebeom groaned, finally looking right at the person’s face. He hitched a breath, the doe-eyed boy with his tinted blue hair tousled in a slight mess had a worried frown etching his features. He looked to be just around his age, maybe younger but Jaebeom just all of a sudden didn’t know what to say at the moment. He’s also very well aware of the insulting remark he just had said to this innocent looking guy who seemed to want to cry after what he’s done to him. Well, god, he fucked up. 

“I’m sorry! I’m really, really sorry!” The guy in an oversized baby pink sweater stepped back and bowed slightly, making sure he won’t make the same mistake thrice. “I really wasn’t looking at all, please forgive me,” he continued in a panic, continuing to bow down in a form of apology which Jaebeom thought was maybe too much for the both of them to handle.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” he managed to say, carefully patting his back as a form of acceptance. “Look up, you don’t have to feel too bad about it.” The guy in question slowly pulls himself back up, the anxiety on his face never faltering, his bottom lip turning bright red from biting on them too hard. His cheeks warmed up in color, but Jaebeom surmised it is probably not from the weather. 

“I wasn’t looking either, so we were kind of both at fault. I’m sorry for that too,” Jaebeom confesses, placing a hand on the back of his neck. This was something he did to calm himself down from a situation that made him too nervous to act too natural. The guy seemed so pained from something that shouldn’t be considered so serious. And Jaebeom felt bad for being the cause of this in the first place. 

Noticing the crumpled up papers he had folded in his hands, Jaebeom’s eyebrows raised up in concern as he pointed at them while asking, “Shouldn’t you be more careful with those?” 

The blushing boy trailed the direction of Jaebeom’s finger, and he loosens the grip although it was too late to save the problem. He chuckled with an awkward tilt to his voice, however Jaebeom thought it sounded cute and cheery in contrast to the sullen looks the guy had on just a few moments ago. “It’s okay, we have plenty more where they came from. Besides, I don’t think I’m doing a very good job of being here, anyway.” He set aside the folded flyers on the edge of the bridge to which they were standing on. 

“Wait, no. I —” Not having as quick of a reflex as Jaebeom, the shy boy watches in nervous anticipation as Jaebeom snatched away a piece of the flyer and smoothes it out in order to read the words printed on them. 

“An a capella group, huh?” Jaebeom mused, reading through the list of information crammed into a tiny sized flyer. He found a list of names in cursive writing on the lower half, assuming they were the names of the current members in the vocal group. With each name, he looked back up at the now curious boy awaiting further responses from Jaebeom. _Jinyoung_ seemed too serious of a name for him, Jaebeom thought as he glossed over the last line. 

_Choi Youngjae._

“Yep, that’s me,” Youngjae blurted out with a nervous laugh as Jaebeom did not realize he said it out loud. He coughed shortly, trying to regain the serious composure he exuded the moment they met instead of feeling flustered by getting his name right the first try. “Well, Choi Youngjae, were you supposed to ask me for my interest in singing or were you just really lucky to bump into me?” _Wow, where did that come from, idiot?_ Jaebeom flinched his forehead in thought, not knowing how else to come back from that lame attempt to flirt. 

Youngjae did not think of it like so, instead his smile grew wider and he ruffles one side of his soft looking blue waves. Jaebeom seemed mesmerized by the sigh, but continues to focus on Youngjae’s lips instead as he talked. 

But before Jaebeom knew it, Youngjae was already awaiting a response for something he had already said. _Fuck, he stared for too long_ , he scolded himself inwardly. The cheerful smile exuded by the other only grew into a hearty laugh, and Jaebeom felt the sleepiness from his earlier senses gone and replaced with an energy only Youngjae seemed to awaken from him. He gulped, hard. 

“You wouldn’t want to join, anyway. Right after I made a scene with you,” Youngjae relented with a drop of his shoulders. Jaebeom felt the need to shake his head vehemently, wanting to listen to Youngjae’s voice a little bit more so — without the lilt of disappointment echoing through them, but with more life similar to his laughs. 

“I didn’t say that, though,” Jaebeom defended, offering an encouraging smile towards the younger (it had said his year on the flyer, he was two years below him). “C’mon, sell me your club. You never know.” Youngjae noticed the tiny smirk that emerged from the corner of the older’s smile, and he couldn’t help but smile back with hints of warmth that kept spreading across his cheeks. 

“Well, for starters we’re called Ahgases — don’t ask me, it was from the hyungs of a long time ago. No one’s bothered to change the name,” he began with Jaebeom’s chuckle of approval (but no signs of dissent from the cheesy yet fitting group name) he continued. “Baby birds who sing in tune, basically. We’re a men’s a capella group that does not box ourselves in one genre of music, we have all sorts of members who are passionate about different things.”

“What’s your passion, then?” Jaebeom interrupted slightly. 

“I really like ballads, but I’m getting into a lot of R&B style thanks to our newest member, Yugyeom,” Youngjae chimed which Jaebeom’s ears perked at the sound of a familiar name. He wasn’t on the list in the flyer, but he definitely knew a Yugyeom that could sing, and is very much interested in the mentioned genre.

“Yugyeom? Kim Yugyeom?” Jaebeom reiterated, remembering one of his lower division electives he took last year. The dance instructor had assigned groups of two or three for a certain choreography project within the term, and Jaebeom was paired up with a Kim Yugyeom who looked about the most nervous person he has ever encountered since then. Jaebeom thought it was going to somehow be a difficult obstacle to get over Yugyeom’s shyness, and create a choreography that will let them pass the class. 

But once they met up at the dance studio for the first time to practice, the more Yugyeom had opened up to his hyung and was able to connect in more ways than making a short R&B inspired performance. Yugyeom and Jaebeom both shared the interests of making their own music on soundcloud, and the two of them then started going over lyrics and rhythms that they critiqued and encouraged to make more of throughout the semester. 

They ended up becoming quite good friends after the class, (and a solid A as a grade) but they weren’t able to hang out much after then seeing as both of them were in different years and majors for that matter, but the occasional messages about songwriting and inspirations were still evident in their friendship.

“You know Yugyeom? Ah, that’s so cool,” Youngjae surmised, clasping his hands together as he rubbed them for warmth. Jaebeom watched his fingers slowly get encapsulated by the oversized length of his sweater, and the older’s stomach flipped from the thoughts that formed in his head. “Not only does he sing really well, but he dances too!” 

“That’s how I met him, actually. We took the same lower division dance class a few quarters ago,” Jaebeom mentioned, feeling surprisingly confident enough to tell Youngjae about all of this. “We found out that we were into the same R&B music, so we also talked about that a lot.” 

“No way! You’re ‘defsoul’ on soundcloud?” Youngjae blurted out with much excitement from his voice. “He’s talked about you so much during the summer and practically forced us to listen to your songs! Not that they were bad, but I actually really liked them,” he added a little more quietly, suddenly aware of how much emotion he had expressed towards the man whose voice he really admired — but, he wouldn’t just admit that. 

Jaebeom, on the other hand, didn’t really know what else to say. He had momentarily forgot about that account after having those conversations with Yugyeom. First, he got too busy with upper division courses and full hours at his part-time job, he rarely had the chance to even pick up a pen and write down lyrics for himself. He felt a little lost during those moments as he didn’t even have the time to calm himself down amidst the chaos in his life — which is why he just resorted to drowning himself in others’ music. He kept listening and listening until he found that one spark to lift his spirits once more and _write_. So far, it hasn’t really happened. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, hyung. Did I cross a line again? Yugyeom showed them to us, so I didn’t really think they were private. Ah, I’m really embarrassed now,” Youngjae mumbled, his teeth sinking in even deeper against his bottom lip. 

Jaebeom didn’t think twice as he grazes his fingertips against Youngjae’s with urgency, a silent plea to stop how he’s hurting himself from something he shouldn’t be embarrassed in the first place. Jaebeom, with nerves electrifying the hand that touched Youngjae, thought that the younger wouldn’t get the hint and would just assume of him as a creep. But surprisingly, Youngjae parted his lips in compliance, licking the bruised bottom as he smiles softly. 

Youngjae wrung his fingers with each other, trying to recreate the gentle caress of Jaebeom’s touch. He didn’t know why he felt so flustered — actually, he did. Deep inside. 

He’s been waiting for ages to meet this Jaebeom hyung that his friend, Yugyeom, kept gushing about. He made sure it wasn’t of a romantic attraction (as Youngjae didn’t want to interfere with his friend’s love life like that) so when he kept asking questions about this enigmatic Jaebeom, he could continue listening to the music he put out as _defsoul_ with a dreamy sigh to his lips (and a teasing remark from Yugyeom almost every time he is caught off guard). He was too shy to ask for the man’s social media handles as he didn’t know what he’d feel — or think about at night, for that matter — if he were to put a face to his name. 

But now that Jaebeom has appeared in front of him in the flesh, Youngjae could not control the squirming his stomach has been tending itself to since he has recognized the sultry lilt of his voice. He didn’t want to bring it up in the first ten seconds of them meeting, he bumped into him for god’s sake. He really would have understood if Jaebeom didn’t want a second glance from him ever again. 

But boy was he wrong. 

“I really enjoyed listening to your songs, hyung. Your lyrics are really unique and profound too,” Youngjae was able to find his voice back, glancing up at Jaebeom whose features were incomprehensible to an untrained eye. Just like his songs as _defsoul_ , it took a lot of replays until Youngjae was confident enough on his own interpretation from the harmony to the way Jaebeom’s voice perfectly matched what he was singing about. 

Youngjae wanted to further study the way Jaebeom’s eyes didn’t directly look at him out of shyness or how the corners of his lips always seem to turn upward as a sign of a chuckle but he forces himself to stay cool. Youngjae found it cute about Jaebeom as to how he wanted to show an image of being calm and collected, but Youngjae was beginning to see that it wasn’t the case most of the time. 

“That’s really sweet of you to say, Youngjae-yah. I appreciate it a lot,” Jaebeom finally evoked, the smile he kept suppressing had successfully found its way on his lips as Youngjae almost quickly reciprocates it with an ever bigger flash of his joy. “I haven’t been writing as of late due to some personal issues, but knowing that someone enjoyed what I put out there makes me not want to stop writing completely,” he continued, feeling a weight slowly easing up from his shoulders. 

“Please don’t stop! I mean— take a break when you absolutely need to, and if nothing is really coming up, I think it’s good to find something that you like doing to distract you and somehow take inspiration from it naturally,” Youngjae encouraged, almost as if he was familiar to the older’s woes. 

“Seems like your advice is coming from the heart. Truly,” Jaebeom teased slightly as he didn’t want to trigger anything too private from Youngjae either, however he missed the part about his own curiosity wishing for Youngjae to expound his thoughts a little further — not even caring how much time has passed since his first initial decision to _not_ engage with anyone _at_ all today. 

“I — I have my own soundcloud account as well,” Youngjae quipped, eyes casting downwards. 

“Really?” Jaebeom’s voice titled higher in excitement. “Youngjae, that’s amazing. Has Yugyeom heard any of your songs?” 

Youngjae didn’t know why he blushed all so suddenly, but the way that Jaebeom asked him if a friend of his had known of his songs rather than forwardly asking to hear it himself made him feel a lot more for the guy. He didn’t look the type to invade another’s business, but he was curious enough to let Youngjae decide how much he wanted to share. How his heart is beating ten times more than when he drinks his Americano in the morning to wake him up. 

“Not yet. I’m a bit too shy to share them with anyone at the moment. I’m trying my best though,” Youngjae admitted, a hand coming to rest against the gravel of the side of the bridge. Jaebeom copied his stance, a tilt of his head exuding a mischievous look from him. Youngjae blinked in the older’s direction, not knowing what he was thinking of.

“I’m sure they sound great. Ballads, to me, are the hardest to write. You need to be in the perfect moment in order to write the exact words you want to say,” Jaebeom offered, his elbow now resting on the flat surface with his open palm cradling his chin. “I admire your bravery, Choi Youngjae. I hope to be one of the lucky people to have a listen to your songs in the future,” he suggested, not daring to look away from the wide-eyed boy. 

Youngjae’s mind told him to inch his hand oh so close to touching Jaebum’s arm, but his heart kept him still. 

“Join our club and I might just let you have first access to them,” Youngjae breathed out in a rush, his forehead becoming a little too hot being inches away from Jaebeom’s body. Jaebeom didn’t flinch, instead he enjoys the sight his eyes behold him: Youngjae, flustered, nervous and words caught in his still red tinted lips. 

“Do you even know my name? Not just my soundcloud handle?” 

Youngjae stuttered for a second, realizing how he’s been calling him ‘hyung’ all this time, but never really addressing the older with his actual name. His words are trapped beneath his tongue, goosebumps forming in his skin at the way he had posed the question. 

“J.. Jaebeom hyung,” he whispered. 

“What was that?”

“Jaebeom hyung,” Youngjae almost whined, knowing full well the older had heard him the first time due to the ever growing smirk on his face. 

“I was just making sure,” Jaebeom defended himself as if knowing the reason for the younger’s continued embarrassment. “I would’ve been slightly offended if you just kept calling me hyung, and insisted to join your group.”

“I’m not that kind of person, Jaebeom hyung!” Youngjae was definitely whining this time, but with a teasing chuckle following after. 

Jaebeom liked that, actually — hearing his name coming from Youngjae’s now carefree voice. 

“So, what do you say, then?” 

“To what?” Jaebeom was out of it. 

“To joining the club, Jaebeom hyung! Ah,” Youngjae nudged the older’s shoulder playfully, lingering his hands a little too longer than necessary. “You’ll need to audition — but you didn’t hear this from me — I can safely tell you, you’ve already passed in my eyes.”

“I don’t want to go the easy way out,” Jaebeom laughed. “I still need the info about the audition date and time, though.”

Youngjae’s heart fluttered at the sudden thought of hearing Jaebeom sing in front of him live for the audition. His knees felt weak, but he was able to compose himself shortly after remembering the crumpled flyers that rested on the gravel which contained the information Jaebeom was asking for. “I forgot about the flyers,” he said dejectedly.

“There’s always another way,” Jaebeom said, urging his phone towards Youngjae.

Once exchanging numbers, Youngjae felt the weight of his phone carry him down as he places it back inside his pocket. The turn of events this morning did not prepare Youngjae for any of this at all. The both of them definitely did not want the conversation to be over so soon, but Youngjae memorized the time shown on his phone before tucking it away, remembering he had class to go in a few minutes. 

“I’m sorry, Jaebeom hyung but I do need to head to class now.”

Jaebeom’s face faltered a tiny bit which Youngjae was able to catch, so he raises his hand to invite him for a simple handshake. Youngjae knew it was cheesy, but he didn’t want to leave the older without one last polite yet affectionate touch before they had to meet again for auditions. 

“I’ll see you soon at auditions though, okay?” Youngjae pouted with his question, nervous that the older wouldn’t accept his form of “see you later.”

Jaebeom, without skipping a beat, found his hand grasping Youngjae’s with a reassuring squeeze, keeping it up in mid air as he responds, “Don’t forget to text me, Youngjae-yah.” 

“Won’t even think about it.” 

They finally had to let go — not without a final glance of a smile from Youngjae and a small curl of the lips from Jaebeom, afraid that if he let himself go he’d be grinning to the heavens. 

Starting to walk back to his usual route, Jaebeom couldn’t contain his feelings as he fishes out his phone out of the denim pocket. 

_Don’t forget to text me._

He had forgotten how to act like a normal human being without being enveloped with infatuation before hitting send. 

_So needy, Jaebeom hyung! Hahaha_

_I told you not to worry >< but if you are, you can always text me as a reminder again! ^^ _

Jaebeom’s heart was about to explode.

_Just making sure. Again. Haha._

_Good luck in class, by the way._

Jaebeom is kind of glad he took out his earphones and listened to the world today. 

**Author's Note:**

> i am such a sucker for these two it's not even funny ): i )): i love ))))): everything 2jae ): oh yeah i'm getting used to calling jaebeom as jaebeom as i have been seeing that its actually how he wants it written so as respect for him there ya go alright need 2 sleep now


End file.
